The logic for a deal is this: Apple wants sports rights. ESPN has them. Yet with cord-cutters moving away from cable, owning ESPN would bring Apple more baggage than benefit. Instead, a significant partnership, one that would tightly integrate ESPN content with Apple’s services, could see each company solve the other’s pressing challenges…
ESPN boasts all four of America’s major sports leagues — football, baseball, basketball and hockey. Apple would have to wait many years to get a hold of those rights organically as deals expire…
If anything is to materialize between the two companies, one option would be for Apple to offer a portal to ESPN content through Apple TV+ and its other services, with Apple taking a slice of subscription revenue in return.
Apple would enjoy the best of both worlds, bringing heaps of blockbuster sports to its users, without the need for Apple to shell out $50 billion for the privilege. And of course, should it want, Apple could still bid big for sports rights in the future as and when they become available — as I’m sure it will.
